Since You Asked… Our Thoughts on Hollywood and the Me Too Movement

We put the truck in four-wheel drive and made the hour-long journey to the airport this week.

Thanks to a few inches of fresh snow and a long line of planes to be de-iced, our flight to sunny Orlando was well behind schedule.

We’re glad for it.

It gave us time to think.

You see, our trip was a short one. We were back home later the same day.

We weren’t headed south to escape the wintry weather or stand in lines at a theme park.

No, we were there to talk business… we were there to share our vision of this burgeoning passion project of ours and discuss all that’s in store for the months ahead.

Big things are in the works.

We could not be more excited for what lies ahead.

And judging by our conversations this week… our timing could not be better.

Men – the New Class of Hate

The idea of manhood has never been under a stronger microscope. And folks are eager to talk about it.

In a world filled with misinformation, they crave the truth.

In the last two months, we’ve found it impossible to mention our project without somebody asking us about the war against men in Hollywood.

Everybody wants to know our thoughts on the me too movement. They want us to tell them what’s already percolating in the back of their minds: That this whole thing is a nasty, mixed-up mess.

Our thoughts on the subject – of course – are quite nuanced.

If we could, we’d point a finger at everybody involved.

“Hell yeah,” we’d shout. “But you’re all oh-so-wrong.”

While most folks involved have the very best of intentions, they’re missing the obvious.

They’re missing the root of all this pain.

A Culture of Hypocrisy

We laugh when we hear the stars of Hollywood take to the stage to fight against sexual abuse.

No doubt, their message is true and real.

Abuse is rampant. It’s flat-out wrong and disgusting.

It should not be tolerated.

But to hear this rhetoric from Hollywood makes us gag.

Those zealots of self-indulgence are too blinded by their hypocrisy to understand they helped create this beast.

Or, like a repentant drug dealer who’s killed all his customers, perhaps they’re too ashamed to admit their role in the pain, and this is their of righting a grievous wrong.

The way we see it, the cause of this mess is obvious.

Hollywood has perverted our culture.

One of the best definitions of “culture” that we’ve ever heard sums up this entire ugly situation.

Our culture, we’re told, is simply what we allow to grow around us.

If we feed and nurture bad ideas… we’ll soon live in a jungle of them.

If the folks in Hollywood weren’t too disconnected from reality to understand that idea, they’d instantly stop tweeting about the problem and get the hell out of town.

Fifty Shades… of Truth

The hypocrisy from some of these mouthpieces is astounding.

At the very same time the so-called stars are on the stage raging about sex gone bad… they’re celebrating the very movies that feed this culture.

We point to stunning moneymakers like Fifty Shades of Grey – the morality-deprived blockbuster that received multiple award nominations… including, dare we reveal it, “best kiss.”

Apparently we can applaud sexual conquest and the corruption of power on the silver screen, but we must spit on it when it bleeds into real life.

Hypocrisy.

Again, our culture is what we allow to grow around us.

An industry that thrives on sex, death and violence should not be all that surprised when the stories it acts out sprout into reality.

So when folks ask our opinion on Hollywood and its approach to the me too movement, we do our best to hold back our gag reflex. We tell them, if you want to join the real movement, turn off your TV. Shun its hypocrisy.

It’s vital that we keep the culture from growing any sicker.

The painful tales we’ve heard over the last few months are horrific and extraordinary. What’s happened is disgusting.

We absolutely want to do our part.

In fact… we are.

Instead of blindly pointing a finger at all men (as happened in Paris this week when male models were dressed as dogs and pigs and forced to walk down the catwalk), we’ll focus on the truth.

The truth is our culture is sick.

And the only way to stop this mess and entirely stay out of it is to allow a healthier culture to grow around us.

That’s why we trekked to Florida this week.

It’s why we’re committed to leading men to happier, healthier and wealthier lives.

All it takes is a healthy dose of truth and reality – two things we’ll never get from Hollywood.